NYT editorial: Race to the Right

[ProSense]

EDITORIAL

Race to the Right

It is far too simplistic to blame the loose coalition of Republicans known as the Tea Party for the debt-limit debacle. It was not the Tea Party fringe of the Republican Party that dragged the economy to the brink — it was its center. The party has moved so far to the right that there is little difference between fringe and mainstream.

Through a combination of fear and fervor, Republican leaders in Congress and in the presidential campaign have lined up behind a radical new strategy in which all major decisions are made under threat — to shut the government in April, to implode the economy in July, to cut off money for the Federal Aviation Administration in August. Party leaders have said they will do this again and again, in perpetuity.

The Tea Party did not come up with this strategy. Although several of its elected members said they would never vote to raise the debt ceiling, it was John Boehner, the House speaker, who in May devised the fatal formula that President Obama would have to agree to cut more from spending than the amount of the debt-limit increase. This nonsense finally won the day. (Mr. Boehner was pilloried by Tea Party branches for raising the debt limit at all.)

In the House, there are only 60 members of the Tea Party caucus, and they were hardly a monolithic bloc. Last Monday, 32 of them supported the final debt deal and 28 voted against. To understand the Republican Party in the House, it is better to consider the Republican Study Committee, 176 fiscal hard-liners who make up two-thirds of the entire caucus (including many of the Tea Party members). Its chairman, Jim Jordan of Ohio, was one of the biggest obstacles to a deal and refused to support it.

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[11 Bravo]

1. K&R

[bvar22]

2. The Tea Party was just an excuse for BOTH Parties to lurch the direction..

..their RICH Corporate Sponsors wanted them to go.

I can't believe I'm recommending one of your threads,
but here it is.
K&R
:patriot:

[indepat]

3. And extreme lurching has become the modus operandi

:patriot:

[Supersedeas]

4. they sure did exert a lot of influence

[Hart2008]

5. Did it occur to you that the Repukes are all "far right" because Obama is right of center?

And with the economic mess that is ongoing, we don't need anyone right of center in the government!